Students Participating in Women in Computing Conference Return Energized

Constance Knapp, interim dean, accompanied two undergraduates – Julie Gill and Allyson Miller and one graduate student, Serene Su – to this year's Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia from September 28 – October 2. The theme of the conference was “Collaborating Across Boundaries.”

More than 2,100 women, including 964 students were in attendance. A more detailed breakdown indicates that 96 companies, 303 academic institutions, and 29 countries were represented at this very special event.

In an ongoing effort to support women in its computing programs, the Seidenberg School sends several women to this annual gathering dedicated to bringing the research and career interests of women to the forefront. And each year, without exception, they come back highly energized as one can see from the following comments:

Julie Gill (BS/CS '12)

“The Grace Hopper Conference was fantastic! It was especially inspiring to be surrounded by so many incredibly smart and talented women in the same field as I where women are greatly underrepresented. It is difficult to explain the energy and inspiration that happens when 2100 intelligent and accomplished women are brought together for four days. I left the conference inspired and ready to hit the ground running.

“Women in Computing are awesome!”

Allyson Miller (BA/CS '13)

“I loved it! It really made me feel a part of something bigger than I could have imagined. It gave me a clearer sense as to what I want to learn more about, and introduced me to new fields of computing. The over all trip can be summed up in one word: inspiring!”

Serene Su (MS/CS '11)

“First, the idea of ‘Women in Computing’ itself is amazing. Imagine that you are sitting in a huge conference hall surrounded by women who are all pursuing engineering and computing work like you? And speakers, who are all successful senior technical women in industry and academia who deliver professional papers and exciting speeches on their updated research and provide candid suggestions to others while transferring their compassion and encouraging us to stand out in male-dominated fields? The encouragement I received from their speeches inspired me, the joy I received from face-to-face communication enlightened me, and the firm handshakes I exchanged strengthened me!”